By Evey Joseph Leibow
After dropping off our respective carpools, Shana and I pulled into the local Starbucks where we ordered our favorite drinks and waited for the barista to butcher our names yet again.
I was taking my first sip when Shana told me that she was considering going away for Pesach this year. “I’m 70% happy for you and 30% jealous,” I said. She nervously smiled. I thought I was being generous in my numbers considering the real ones were way off from those I gave. Frankly, I was surprised because whenever the subject of Passover programs came up, her husband’s eyes bulged and his head shook. “Not happening! I love you, but not happening,” he would tell her.
But Shana persisted. “Truthfully, I’m just researching the idea before I talk to Dov about it,” she whispered. She said she wanted all the details worked out before presenting her master plan with all the figures to her husband so they could have a “real” conversation about it.
“Do you know where you want to go?” I asked. “No clue,” she said. “But I can ask so and so since she’s been there before.” I figured that just going away was amazing and, well, how different can one program be from another? I generally like to think I’m well-informed about a variety of things, but when it comes to Pesach programs, I have to admit, I was misinformed.
Pesach Programs can vary a ton in areas such as food, location, crowd, amenities, chol hamoed activities, speakers, kids’ programs, room options, weather, cost, and other things. I remembered that another friend had attended a program in Florida and that her family found it through Passover Listings. Their family consisted of a sizable group with grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins—even the family pet, so finding a package with the right price and offerings for everyone was key. Her father-in-law had used the Passover Listings Pesach Program Pricing Tool to guide his search based on their budget. He was also able to search based on the country and state, which was particularly helpful because one family member was due to give birth and another was elderly. Flying was out of the question.
The site also includes reviews from actual attendees. My first thought was: Are former clients really going to give their true opinions? I learned that the answer was yes. In many cases, while careful not to bash a program, they shared honest reviews, including critiques about what they wished had been different as well as raves and accolades about amenities they enjoyed. The website has a wealth of information about the various programs and their strengths and areas they are working to improve, which is immensely helpful.
Shana decided that one of the most important aspects she needed was a good kids’ program. She had a friend who had attended a program previously and discovered, to her chagrin, that the camp was severely understaffed. With no one to watch her kids, and discovering they even lost a child on the first day, she never got the relaxation she desperately needed.
Even knowing all this, Shana still wanted to go away, and she knew that if she was going to sell her husband on the idea, the program had to be outstanding, safe, and well-organized. She discovered that in addition to the Passover Listings website, they also have WhatsApp and Facebook Groups, called Passover Program Reviews, where prospective program attendees can ask questions and engage with program runners and past attendees to help them find the best options for them. Nobody can tell you more about a program better than someone who has attended there previously. Shana asked the right questions and got the answers she needed, which included pictures of the kids’ program that would best suit her family.
Armed with all this information, Shana decided today was the day. She cooked his favorite dinner and had all the answers to the questions she knew he would ask. Once the kids were asleep, she sat him down to have the big talk. “I got this,” she thought. “There’s no way he can say no.”
She broached the subject, mentioning that she knew it was early to start discussing Pesach, and when he started to interrupt her, she reiterated that she had thought long and hard about it and was sure that this year was the year they would go away. She expected some push back and was pleasantly surprised when he said, “Shana, we are going away. I wanted to surprise you. I found a Pesach program on a website, read all the reviews, and decided to book it. Honey, we are going away for Pesach this year!”
Overjoyed, Shana ran out of the room. “Where are you going?” he asked. She ran back in with her phone. “Pesach is 5 months away! I need to start shopping!” And thus began their journey to their dream Pesach vacation.
